The Ministry of Fun runs a Santa school where new recruits are trained up.
Photograph: Ministry of Fun

For Stephen Waters, the festive season is a time of transformation – when he leaves behind his normal line of work, dons a red suit and becomes Santa Claus.

The beard, made of realistic crepe wool, has to be prepared the night before he’s due to wear it, and takes about two hours to attach. The outfit includes a jacket lined with satin and £40-a-metre fur, spectacles, leather boots and white gloves. In his hand, he carries a candy cane walking stick and an enormous pocket watch that opens to reveal moving reindeer. A musical tricycle, lit by 300 lights as he rides into town, completes the look. “From the moment I step out the door, I’m in character,” he says. “And I don’t break character until the end of the day.”

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Waters – who goes by the name of Magical Santa – is one of many self-employed Santas appearing at parties, corporate events and grottos around the UK in the run-up to Christmas. Such is the demand for this iconic character that individual Santa services are competing with Santa-for-hire agencies, while Santa schools are offering training in the ways of the great man.

One of these schools is the Ministry of Fun, set up 20 years ago by James Lovell, a year after he first became Santa himself. He came to the role almost by accident, after being asked to step in at the last minute for someone who had fallen ill. He quickly realised that the job wasn’t quite as simple as it looked. Encountering a shy child who needed to be put at ease, he was able to improvise (thanks to a background as a street performer and clown), but spent a lot of time afterwards researching Santa to make sure he had things to talk about.

“I’m always ready to talk about the reindeers,” he says. “And you need to be able to discuss the very important issue of a child who doesn’t have a chimney. When you’re Santa you’ve got to be ready for anything. You’ve got to be supremely comfortable in the role.” His company, which trained 38 people this year, is now the UK’s number one provider of Santas.

It is, arguably, the most seasonal job in the world, and every Santa will have skills elsewhere that keep the money coming in for the rest of the year. Those on the books at the Ministry of Fun have a wide variety of professions including teacher, football coach, tour guide, flood damage restorer and cold-call salesman. Out of season, Waters is an sculptor, artist, busker and handyman. But there is “good money” to be made in Santa, says Lovell, with bookings for appearances typically starting to come in as early as August.

Waters makes enough money during the festive season to keep him going for about six months, and has this year turned down about £6,000 for December because he doesn’t have enough time to take on more work. He notes that a standard rate is usually about £100 an hour, although the exact amount will depend on the client and nature of the booking.

Most of his Magical Santa business has come through word of mouth, much of which Waters attributes to his work as a “Street Santa”. This involves him setting himself up on Southend high street, with a sign saying ‘Donations Welcome’, and inviting families to come over. It’s a decent source of income – takings range between £80 to £160 for a few hours – and doubles up as an opportunity to hand out business cards.

Steven Wickham, also known as The Real Santa, takes a different approach. Work usually comes via his website, although he has also dabbled with other types of marketing: paying for a promotion on Facebook and contacting his local newspapers in Buckinghamshire for publicity. This is his second Christmas as a Santa-for-hire and, while business seems to be growing steadily, he notes that it’s a competitive area.

But Wickham also has a couple of advantages when it comes to being Santa – he’s got what he calls “the real stuff” in terms of appearance, and has played Santa on several occasions in his job as a professional actor. His credits include Father Christmas in TV’s Mrs Brown’s Boys, the 2013 Littlewood’s Christmas advert, and he is currently appearing on Italian TV for mobile network TIM’s festive campaign. Wickham has already found that having an authentic beard counts for something among some customers, with a recent booking coming through for that very reason.

There are, however, challenges other than physical appearance. One of these is a tendency by children to ask difficult questions. “The trickiest questions are the saddest ones,” says Lovell. “I was once asked if daddy could come home for Christmas – that was pretty tough. Even worse was when a child asked if I could make their little brother better. Santa doesn’t need to get involved in any of that – it’s not Santa’s job to be a counsellor, so to speak – so you’d quickly say something like: ‘I’m sorry you have troubles, but I’m Father Christmas and I’m going to make sure you have a great time this Christmas.’ Always go positive.”

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Practical safeguarding issues are also a consideration. Many Santas now come with a DBS check, although this is not a legal requirement for the job, as well as public liability insurance. More generally, there are some good practice rules to be followed. In his conditions of booking, Waters stipulates that there must be two adults in the room with him at any one time, that he’s there to entertain rather than babysit, and that he isn’t left alone with children at any point.

And then, of course, the role of Santa comes with another significant responsibility: to keep the magic alive. “You hear tales of grumpy old chaps in the department store and of people who were scared of Santa for years,” says Wickham. “So I do strongly feel that you need to have the right kind of twinkly character. Because you’re messing with children’s minds. They still believe it’s real, and it should be. There are very few characters out there who can actually make people happy like Santa does.”